Sheet-feeding mechanism for printing presses



Patented Sept. 26, 1922.

A. B. EVANS AND R. P. PAYNE. SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 10, 1922. 1,430,223.

E m T .Jfi fin uw nwwvm WW m a A cc D. g E .F a g .V I IIT a rf Q L 1 Patented Sept. 2%, l9?

ARTHUR nnnnonennsnvans AND RAYMOND E mi. PAYNE, or tnnnsnnenann.

snnnnrnnn no MECHANISM Eon PRINTING Pnnssns.

Application filed May 10,

To all ea/mm it may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR BUR- noUon'n-s Evans and RAYMoNn PnnoivAL PAYNE, subjects of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, respectively, residing respectively at 7 Woodland Grove, Chapeltown, Leeds, England, and 169 Spencer Place, Leeds, England, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements Relating to Sheet-Feeding Mechanism for Printing Presses, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to sheet feeding mechanism for printing presses of the hind wherein the sheet is seized by the gripper of a continuously rotating sheet carryingor impression cylinder and is adjusted for front and. lateral registration while travelling towards the grippers of the cylinder at a speed approximately equal to the cir cum'l'erential speed of the cylinder.

The invention has for its object to provide simple and effective mechanism for se curing front and side registration of the sheet.

According to the invention the cylinder is provided with mechanism mounted thereon whereby the sheet is gripped and drawn forward against the front-lays also carried upon the cylinder. The mechanism com vei'iiently comprises elements adapted to grip the front edge of the sheet as it travelling forward. and to draw it forward with a. delicate grip up to the frontdays immediately before the cylinder gri ipers close upon it.

According to the invention also mechanism provided for effecting lateral registration of the sheet while it is approach ing the grippers of the cylinder, an operat' ingportion of which mechanism hasa sur face speed approximating to the speed of the sheet and serves to displace the sheet laterally against a travelling or fixed side lay.

construction of the mechanism accord ing to the invention is illustratedhy way of example in. the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which Figure 1 is an end elevation partly in section,

Figure 2 is a detail plan view of the side lay mechanism, and v Figure 3 is a detail elevation of the sidelay mechanism partly in section.

Fig; 4; is a detailed. viewshowing how the 1922. seim No. 559,853.

grippers W and V draw the edge of the sheet agamst the front gauge previousto the closing of grippers C.

In the construction represented in the l3 upon which is fitted a roller G adapted to" contact with a cam surface H provided fixedly mounted in connection with the frame work of the machine so that the grippersC are caused to be operated in each. revolution of the cylinder A. A shaft J, also journalled in the ends of the cylinder A and disposed approximately in the line "oinin the leadin ed e of the surface and 8 v ti 2': t)

the axis of the cylinder, serves to carry a lever K at the free end of whichisfitted a stud L upon which is mounted a roller M for engagement with a cam surface N fixedly mounted in connection with the frame of the machine and serving-to oscillate the shaft J and the elements mounted. thereon once during each revolution of the cylinder A. Two arms 0 fitted upon the shaft J serve to carry a shaft 1 on which is mounted an arm Q; carrying at its free extremity a stud R upon which is fitteda roller S for engagement with a cam surface T fixedly provided in connection with the frame-work and serving to oscillate the shaft P once in every revolution of the cylinder A. .The shaft P has fixedly mounted upon it a set of grippers V adapted to cooperate with corresponding grippers W which are mounted upon the shaft J,

and through which the shaft P freely passes. The rollers G, M and S are advantageously constrained to follow the'cam surfaces H, N and T respectively by means of springs. naitively he provided in the form of grooves serving to constrain the movement of the rollers in both directions.

The mechanism for delivering the sheets into position with respect to the cylinder A 110 comprises two series of tapes of which the lower av s i the rection. of the an ings in the'frame work of the machine. 65

one extremity of the" 70 The cam' surfaces may alterrow and passes around a roller Z) suitably mounted in position upon a spindle 0. The path of the sheet formed by the lower tape is extended towards the surface of the cylinder A by suitable sheet guides d. The upper tapes 0 are carried in a similar man ner to the tapes a to extend forwardly above the sheet guides (Z. The sheet is fed forward by the frictional contact with the tapes a and 7) so as to come to lie in a position determined by front-lays f mounted upon the leai'ling edge of the surface of the cylii'nler A in any suitable manner per mitting them to co-operate with the grippers and to act in the usual way. When the front edge of the sheet reaches the front-lays f it is registered in front-lay by the grippers C V and V under the action of the cams H T and N. The lower grippers \V lie below the edge of the sheet in the position represented in Figure 1, while the upper grippers V close upon the sheet under the pressure of the spring acting upon the arm Q. The grippers V, V are then moved forwards to draw the front edge of the sheet against the front-lays the spring pressure being only sufficient to ensure engagement with the sheet until it is arrested by the front-lays The grippers V, \V continue their forward movement relatively to the cylinder until they are in advance of the sheet where they remain during the printing operation. lVhilst the sheet is still held by the gri ipers v, W against the front-lays f, the grippers (l are closed upon it to hold it firmly to the cylinder A.

lVhile the sheet is being fed forward into the position adjacent the front-lays it is registered in side-lay by means of mechanism comprising a pair of guide rods extending parallel with the cylinder A and suitably mounted in carrying brackets in such manner that they may be adjusted as desired. Upon the said guide rods g is mounted a bracket h which serves to support at its forward end a side-lay m against which the lateral edge of the sheet is to be registered and. also having at the forward end a boss or hearing to reecive a spindle r which carries at one end a roller or wheel 1 having the faces covered with plush or the like, the axis of the spindle 1* being at an angle to the axis of the guide rods At the rear extremity the spindle '1' carries a spur wheel 7) adapted to engage with a helical gear wheel a suitably mounted upon a shaft and rotated in such manner as to effectthe rotation of the spindle 7' in a direction to feed the sheet of paper by means of the roller Q towards the lay m. The delical gear wheel a is of sufficient width of face to permit the gear wheel 7) to remain in gear for any position of adjustment of the bracket h.

sheets side-ways against the sideday m.

It will be understood that the circumferential speed of the roller Q in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the roller 6 is equal to the circumferential speed of that roller.

Contact is made between the roller 1 and the roller 6 by the lowering of the bracket h .n'iomen'tarily before the front edge of the sheet has reached the front-lays f, the action of the roller Q thus tending to carry the V A metal plate a is conveniently carried on the frame-work to assist in supporting the sheet during the action upon it of the roller 1.

ive claim:

i. Sheet feeding mechanism for printing presses wherein the sheet is seized by grippers upon a contii'iuously rotating sheet carrying or impression cylinder at a time when it is travelling towards the grippers at a speed approximately equal to the circumferential speed of the cylinder. having means for effecting front registration of the sheet against front lays mounted upon the cylinder, such means consisting of mechanism also mounted upon the cylinder and adapted to draw the sheet into contact with the front-lays before the grippers become operative, substai'itially as described.

2. Sheet feeding mechanism for printing presses. as set forth in the preceding claim, wherein the means for effecting front registration comprise elements adapted to grip the sheet at the leading or front edge with a delicate grip and to draw the sheet up to the :lFront-lays before the cylinder grippers close upon the sheet, substantially as described.

3. Sheet feei'ling mechanism for printing presses wherein the sheet is seized by the grippers of a continuously rotating sheet carrying or impression cylinder at a time when it is travelling towards the grippers at a speed approximately equal to the circumferential speed of the cylinder having means for securing lateral registration of the sheet comprising mechanism, a rotating portion of which has a surface speed ap proximat'ing to the forward speed of the sheet and SQl'VOC to displace the sheetlaterally against [ixed sidedays in'nnediately before the sheet is gripped by the grippers of the cylinder, substantially as described.

4l-. Sheet feeding n'iechanism for [whiting presses as set forth in claim l, having means for securing lateral registration of the sheet, comprising mechanism an operating portion of which has a surface speed approximating to the forward speed of the sheet and serves to displace the sheet laterally against fixed side-lays immediately before the sheet is gripped by the grippers of the cylinder, substantially as described.

ARTHUR BURROUGHES EVANS. RAYMOND PERCIYAL PAif' llEq 

